Tracking Oiler prospects: Edmonton's double draftee

Kristians Pelss interviews with the Cult of Hockey

Interest in junior hockey is ramping up in these parts as the Edmonton Oil Kings prepare for the playoffs. The local squad will be underdogs in their first round series against Central Division champions Red Deer Rebels (dates and details at bottom), but have made giant strides in 2010-11 from bottom-feeder to respectable club, fully earning their berth in the post-season.

Oiler fans will have good reason to watch the Rebels, as top-ranked prospect Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is one of the early favourites to possibly be Edmonton’s selection – presumably at #1 or #2 overall – in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Oilers’ fuzzy future aside, this is one player who is worth watching on his own considerable merits.

But there are a few reasons for followers of the local NHL team to take interest in the Oil Kings as well. Foremost among them is Kristians Pelss, a native of Preili, Latvia, who last summer scored the unusual, indeed unique double of being drafted by both the Edmonton Oilers and the Edmonton Oil Kings. (Teammate Cameron Abney was drafted by the Oilers in 2009 but acquired by the Oil Kings via the trade route.)

The Oilers went off the board on Pelss in the seventh and final round, making him the first Latvian to be picked by any NHL team since 2006 and the first ever to be selected by the Oilers. Weeks later, the Oil Kings craftily picked him in the CHL Import Draft, 19th overall. Pelss jumped at the chance to come play in his new home arena.

Predictably, the youngster – whose 1992 Sept 9 birthday made him one of the very youngest players eligible for the 2010 Entry Draft – had an adjustment period as he adapted to a new country, a new language, a smaller rink, a faster pace. It’s instructive to break down his 63 games into “splits” of 21 games each:

Pelss was something of a streaky scorer this season, going on a couple of fortnight-long hot streaks, with lengthy gaps in production in between times. Nonetheless he showed sufficient promise that Oil Kings fans expect him to blossom into a front line scorer in 2011-12. The upcoming playoffs may provide a sneak preview.

We caught up with Pelss last Tuesday just after the Oil Kings had thumped the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 8-1. His command of English after just a few months on this continent was very impressive.

* * *

Cult of Hockey: Congratulations on your win tonight. Two more assists for you!

Kristians Pelss: Thank you, it’s good to come back!

CoH: I heard you were sick for the weekend [two-game road trip].

KP: Yeah, I missed two games, this is my comeback game. I feel much better.

CoH: I want to ask you about the adjustment to North American culture. What’s the most difficult, learning the language, the culture, or the hockey?

KP: I think everything is [getting] better. When I come here, I don’t know very good English, and it’s tough to understand what the coach means and what he wants from me. The game is different, way more physical game and very much faster.

CoH: Does it hurt you to not be fluent? Do you still have trouble understanding the coaches? Do you have trouble making friends on the team?

KP: At the start it was a bit tougher, but they are good guys, they help a lot, if I don’t understand they try to explain and coach is doing the same thing. I feel good here. Comfortable.

CoH: Who is your roommate on the road?

KP: Last few times I’ve been with Marek Hrbas.

CoH: He’s a Czech or a Slovak?

KP: He’s Czech.

CoH: Do you speak English with each other?

KP: Yeah we speak English. We don’t have the same language, some words maybe we understand but mostly we speak in English.

CoH: Last year you were drafted twice: by Edmonton and by Edmonton! The Oilers and the Oil Kings. That must be pretty exciting for you to play in the building where you’re going to play as a pro, you hope.

KP: I think I’m very lucky to be drafted by Oilers and Oil Kings. I just play for this city and it feels good.

CoH: Were you surprised to be drafted by the NHL?

KP: Yeah! I didn’t know I would be drafted and when I see it I was very, I don’t how to say, like wow!

CoH: You went back to Belarus to play for Latvia in the World Junior qualifying tournament [Division 1], and you won! So next year you are going to play in the World Junior here in Alberta. Congratulations first of all, that must have been a very exciting win for your country.

KP: Oh yeah, I’m very happy. Had a good time seeing my old friends, and when we win the championship it was a big experience. For Latvia it’s very good.

CoH: Will most of those players be back next year or a lot of them too old next year?

KP: Actually a lot of guys are ’91 [birthdate] and they’ll be old guys [!], so next year we’ll have a new team almost. Everybody play first time in Under-20, and it’s going to be tough. But we’ll fight, we’ll try.

CoH: But you will be here next year, you’ll still be 19 so you’ll be in the tournament yourself. Are Latvia’s games in Calgary or Edmonton?

KP: In Calgary.

CoH: That’s what I thought. Too bad, I wanted to see you play. … With the Oil Kings, I’ve noticed that you’re getting almost all of your points at even strength. Are you not getting used very much on the powerplay?

KP: Second half of the year I’ve been getting more powerplay, and more points.

CoH: Your points all year have just been going up, up, up, up, up. You’re surely finding yourself more comfortable. Are you getting bigger?

KP: Yeah I get weighter and a little, uh, higher.

CoH: We have you at 5’10, 175, or you can tell me in metres and kilograms. What are you now?

KP: Now I’m like 5’11 and 185-6 maybe.

CoH: How is the NHL viewed in Latvia vs. the KHL? Is the NHL thought to be higher than the Russian League?

KP: For sure, NHL is best league in the world. Everybody wants to play in the NHL. KHL is maybe second.

CoH: But you came to Canada so your goal is NHL, surely.

KP: Yeah, for sure.

CoH: What is the state of hockey in Latvia for young players? Why did you have to leave Latvia? Is the league there not good enough?

KP: The Latvian league is not so good, and almost every good team plays for another country’s league, like Belarus and Russia. I think [for me] it’s better to come here to play, that’s better [preparation] for NHL.

CoH: What are your strengths as a player, Kristians?

KP: I guess my speed, and maybe shooting the puck.

CoH: I’ve noticed you’re very tenacious on the forecheck, you’re very strong on the puck in the other team’s zone especially. That seems to come naturally to you.

A strong skater and aggressive forechecker, Pelss engages in another battle for the puck.

Pelss attacks the scoring area.

Normally a winger, Pelss wins a draw after centre Stephane Legault (#7) was tossed out of the circle.

Pelss wires a wicked wrist shot off the goal post. Legault is about to tap in the rebound for Pelss’s 33rd and last point of the 2010-11 season.

[All photographs by Bruce McCurdy]

* * *

Follow the Oil Kings-Rebels playoff series at the Enmax Centrium March 25 and 26 (19:30) and Rexall Place March 28 and 31 (19:00). The series will be televised on Shaw Channel 10, with radio broadcasts on The Team 1260 in Edmonton and FM 106.7 The Drive in Red Deer. Keep reading the Cult of Hockey for ongoing coverage.

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